Are you referring to the Swiftian protagonist or my lowly self?
I’ll admit that my heart sings when bigots tremble, but I take an exceptionally dim view of exploitative tabloids. I’m sad the Wachowski Sisters were subject to this scumbucket’s blackmail, and not simply because they’ve brought me and millions of others joy, years before anyone had heard of The Matrix, with the classic film Assassins, but because they deserve to be treated as self-actualized human beings regardless of their achievements.
[quote=“Bobo, post:38, topic:74829”]
there are also a lot who are simply horrible people. They were raised in a deeply religious family or culture where gay or trans is “the devil’s work”, an unforgiveable sin, that must be fought against.
[/quote] [Emphasis added.]
If I was taught all my life that something was bad and harmful, would I be a horrible person for buying into it, and then acting like it really was horrible? Ranges a little into philosophical territory, I know, but I find it more satisfying than useful to assume people are acting out of the pitch darkness of their hearts. Don’t get me wrong, the darkness is there, and in all of us to some extent, but I’m increasingly of the view that people don’t actually have that much control over what they believe. I think people are hardwired to share the beliefs of their main social groups, and we’re hardwired to assume they somehow know better. This isn’t to say I take some nihilistic view that no one is wrong, just that I’m not entirely sure the shame game has any actual use in these sort of “culture war” issues. Everybody is already “doing the right thing.” That’s actually the problem. (Though I’d argue the problem with the Lilly Wachowski story is more transparently motivated by greed and ambition.)
It was an oblique reference to a Monty Python sketch which my non-binary faculties associate with some people’s difficulty in parsing such gender issues. But I am said to be possessed of a rather peculiar sense of humor.
Anyway, I find the Wachowskis and their work interesting, and agree that it is in poor taste for “interviewers” to use them as fuel for their tabloid circus.
Welcome to Boing Boing. I see you created your account here just so you could say, “who cares?” Trans people make me uncomfortable too, but being a dick on the internet really doesn’t help at all. I’ve tried, it doesn’t work. Hope you feel better, buddy!
The Daily Mail isn’t a newspaper, it’s an opinion paper*. Written by people who believed and still do that Hitler was A-OK.
It’s a vaguely interesting topic and good for closeted trans people to know that there’s high profile people enduring the same conflictions but the story here is the treatment of the Wachowski at the hands of the shit-press. Headline should have read “Daily Mail intimidates and bullies yet another transgender person and hopefully they won’t commit suicide because of it this time”.
have you seen our newspapers? If I ever had the misfortune to be doorstepped by the Mail et al, I’d be tempted to offer the reporter a cup of tea & dose them with acid, the horrible fuckers.
Many, many years ago a friend who was in the process of transitioning asked me to stand guard outside the bathroom in an almost empty building (the only other people present were also friends). I didn’t say anything and stood outside, but I thought it was a bit of an odd request.
When I hear about these “bathroom bills” or, worse, the attacks, I realize there wasn’t anything odd about it. While I can’t imagine what it’s like to be afraid to use any public restroom I understand the basis for that fear. He wasn’t trying to educate me, and it wasn’t his job to do so, but I am grateful for that brief lesson in privilege.
Huh. I wonder how many other examples of siblings doing this, as I’ve never heard of it. Just wondered. Does it bolster a genetic link to gender identity?
Also, re: the bathrooms, just make them all unisex. Only you ladies need to not be such slobs in public restrooms if we are going to share.
I have other trans family members - as do several friends. I hope I made it easier for my nephew. Many people in my life started out with the same attitudes as the reactionaries - took about 15 years for some to get over it.
Julia Serano writes all about this in Whipping Girl. The fascination with trans women is pretty extreme. At one point it was thought there were about five times more trans women than trans men, but that was because 1) you were only “trans” if you transitioned; 2) you could only transition if a psychiatrist agreed; 3) psychiatrists were obsessed with trans women and so many more of them transitioned. She uses (coins I think) the word effemimania to describe obsession with men (or male bodied people) taking on women’s role, behaving like women or being women. That obviously plays out from children’s toys to diaper changes, not just in trans issues.
The book is a great read that helps separate transphobia from plain old misogyny (trans women obviously have to face both). A trans friend of mine sent it to me in the mail; she said it was like standing on a street corner handing out bibles.
My daughter has several trans friends in her high school. She was telling me how unfair it is that her friend could not use the women’s room. I thought, yeah, I get that for her, but as a mom, I thought, you know, it could be really awkward, as a teen, to be in a bathroom with someone who is using the toilet a different way. So, even though I was supportive of her friend’s right, I could see how in high school it might make sense to still have a separate rest room setup.
But then, I was actually in a bathroom with a friend of mine who is trans (and admittedly she is post-surgical so she was using the toilet the same way as me), but I TOTALLY did not even think about her being in the bathroom with me. It felt absolutely natural as she is a woman. Only later did I think, “Oh yeah, that was that situation everyone is so fearful of.”
So that changed my mind on the whole thing. Talk about something that is blown out of proportion.
